Firefighters' suspenders are a well known product. In the prior art, suspenders traditionally have been made of a heavy duty elastic material. Disadvantages of prior art firefighter's suspenders include the following: the lack of the ability to be adjustable to fit and to be comfortable for a variety of different sized persons; the short life-expectancy of certain elastic materials that are used; the lack of the ability to withstand the rigorous activities encountered in fire fighting activities; discomfort and lack of support to the wearer; the lack of the ability to support heavily loaded or water-soaked pants without the aid of a belt or waist adjustment strap; poor fit which causes the suspenders to slide off of the wearer's shoulders; restricted freedom of movement of the suspender-wearer; and "bunker bounce" caused by the interaction of a weight load on the pants and the elasticity of the suspenders.
Some suspenders of the prior art have been constructed of leather but do not allow the flexibility provided by the moveable back of the suspenders of the invention. Also, upon repeated exposure to water, leather may rot and deteriorate.
Suspenders, of course, are well known and various types of suspenders systems are shown, for example, in United States Letters Patent No. Reissue 9,435; 339,968; 680,558; 726,045; 755,026; 782,119 and 1,926,751. U.S. Pat. No. 339,968 shows strips of leather or rubber passing over a hanger bar, but, inter alia. does not show an assembly of a pivoting back mechanism in conjunction with suspenders used with firefighters bunker pants. Nor does U.S. Pat. No. 339,968 otherwise relate any purpose or mechanism in the suspender construction. Similarly, Letters Pat. No. 723,560 and 2,245,556 show straps passing through hanger bars, but not in the context of a pants suspender.